Sign Language On A Mobile Phone

Thursday, August 21, 2008 - 18:56 in Mathematics & Economics

A group at the University of Washington has developed software that for the first time enables deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans to use sign language over a mobile phone. UW engineers got the phones working together this spring, and recently received a National Science Foundation grant for a 20-person field project that will begin next year in Seattle. This is the first time two-way real-time video communication has been demonstrated over cell phones in the United States. Since posting a video of the working prototype on YouTube, deaf people around the country have been writing on a daily basis. "A lot of people are excited about this," said principal investigator Eve Riskin, a UW professor of electrical engineering. Read More...

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